re: Will Brian Kelly go with experience or the higher upside options week 1 at Clemson?

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There is no debate, you go with the personnel that give you the best chance to win.

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There is an ongoing myth on this board that BK doesn’t do this and plays upper classmen over better freshman to the detriment of the team, despite overwhelming evidence that this isn’t the case.

Will Campbell, Emery Jones, Perkins, Mason Taylor, Maason Smith, Caden Durham etc all played starter snaps as true freshmen.

I think BK is like almost every coach I’ve ever spoken to. He can accept physical errors but doesn’t want mental errors. And that’s what you see more frequently with younger players. While they may have more physical talent, the fact that they are still learning the scheme and their assignments as well as how to communicate on the field limits what the coaches can ask them to do.

So in some cases you have to play the more experienced, more knowledgeable player until the younger more talented one catches up mentally. And BK has done this.

The most physically gifted player in the world won’t help you win if he has no idea what he’s supposed to do on the field. The SEC isn’t like HS ball where you can just put the best athlete anywhere in the field and he will beat the other inferior team.